A Pentalogy of BRT (4) Understanding and Delivering the Brief: Kuala Lumpur

 

Amongst numerous metros and a single monorail, Kuala Lumpur has a single bus rapid transit (BRT) line.  It is shown on the city's integrated transit maps as the line B1 - Sunway line. The name reflects the fact it largely serves the Sunway development which includes residential and retail and a university, and was part funded by Sunway.

The Sunway line is largely elevated dedicated transitway.  It has access ramps for buses to from depot s and service vehicles but is not integrated with any other local buses. The layout means that it can only practicably be used by BRT Sunway line services, although there is interchange with other local buses en route.

There is no dedicated guidance infrastructure nor unusual step height, which means that, theoretically, any local bus could be used on Sunway line services.  However a small fleet BYD electric buses are dedicated to the service, based on their K9 model with a bespoke body and interior.  They are operated by Rapid KL, as are most other urban public transport services in Malaysia's capital.

There are seven stations on the BRT Sunway line, all of which are elevated and feature 100% off bus ticketing, with ticket barriers managing access to and from the platforms.  They are equipped for a local electronic ticketing scheme which offers cheaper fares than the cash fares from ticket machines and includes both pay-as-you-go and season tickets.  There is no ability to accept bank or credit cards for pay-as-you-go payment on the BRT or any other Kuala Lumpur metro/bus service.  The southern terminus at USJ7 station (yes, that is it's name) offers paid side interchange with the metro line 5.

This selection of photos illustrates the Kuala Lumpur Sunway BRT line and shows how the basic BRT brief of journey time reliability and reduction has been delivered, with no interference from any other traffic including other buses - which means the infrastructure benefits are only afforded to Sunway line passengers.

Paid side interchange at USJ7

USJ7 station BRT platform.  Guard rails were at some but not all BRT stations leading to the buses with a centre door for boarding and alighting.  The addition of tensa-type barriers is a common post-construction feature of transport infrastructure across south east Asia when they work out how they actually want to operate a site!

Elevated busway approaching USJ7.  No guidance (etc) equipment is required on vehicles.

One of the BYD K9 electric buses approaches USJ7.

Boarding and alighting is through a centre door with 100% off bus ticketing.

Interior seating layout is in a large bay.

Busway

Typical platform, this one has barriers added post-constriction to lead to the door location.

Access to the Sunway line bus.

Service vehicles can also access the infrastructure easily.

Staffed office and ticket barriers managing access to/from the platforms.

The elevated busway and BRT station.

Interior layout.

Forward section is largely for standees

No relation.  For more of this type of content see my other blog!

A Pentalogyof BRT (3) Functioning Hanoi

Part three of what started as a trilogy of BRTs but is now five (that is a pentalogy) is the reasonably functioning single line system in Hanoi, Vietnam.  Key features:

• Opened January 2017 so approaching a decade old;
• Dedicated off-side lanes for most of the route: they are missing for the first 500 metres or so at the southern Hanoi city centre terminus;
• Island stations and high platforms;
• Dedicated fleet of buses with high offside doors to serve the platforms;
• Ticket barriers in operation, requires a smart card pass or purchase a ticket (actually a reusable plastic token) at a staffed ticket office at each stop;
• Maintains a very high frequency throughout the day but is noticeably busier in the morning and evening peaks;
• Bus destination displays seem to vary wildly: they are supported in windscreen printed displays.

Ticket barriers for exit

Ticket  barriers for entry

Staffed ticket office

Door from platform to bus

Hanoi BRT us showing the offside mid-body doors.

The nearside layover space means buses have to reverse on to the departure stop.  There is no facility to 'drive around' the terminus bus station as the opposite side of the island is used by conventional buses travelling in the same direction.

BRT stops showing the platform boarding aligned to the doors on the buses.  Rear two platforms are for alighting, nearest two for boarding.

Entry to a BRT stop.

A BRT stop showing the ticket office on the right and entry gates ahead.

What seems to be comprehensive information about the route provided in Vietnamese.  There didn't seem any obvious reason why tourists would use the BRT.

Semi-signalled junction at the south end of the segregated section: the bus in the foreground will turn left to start the sone way loop to the terminus whilst the bus in the distance is starting its journey northbound and will cross the junction.  There are no left/right turn signals at this junction!

Hanoi BRT

Hanoi BRT with a regular Hyundai city bus (blue) passing in the regular traffic lanes.

Motorbikes rule in SE Asia and are far more common than private cars.  The BRT stop is on the left in the picture and the BRT lane space is being used by motorbikes at the traffic signals.

My conclusions....

• The system works as designed and is popular with commuters;
• Very lightly used at other times;
• Limited overall benefit to Hanoi as non-BRT buses (most of them) cannot use the infrastructure;
• An internet search suggests that a network of seven or eight BRT routes was to be constructed in Hanoi, but this has not happened - yet!

What else in Hanoi?

Metro Line 1 is built and operating to the west of the city.

At the time of visiting, Metro line 2 was half built with the northern half operational.....

....and the southern half being built 'cut & cover'

This aspirational network map was seen on display at one station.

Large numbers of these diesel Hyundai buses with a manual gearbox are in operation.

As well as quite a number of these domestically built Vinfast electric buses.

The humble motorbike serves many functions!

And traffic junctions are dominated by 'powered two wheelers' and not cars.

 

And Train Street, as the trains taking 1.5 days to reach Ho Chi Minh leave Hanoi's main station.

A Trilogy of BRT (2) Unloved Sydney

Anyone familiar with Sydney's public transport will know the traditional heavy rail network (with the double decker trains) has been enhanced in recent years by the addition of several light rail/tram lines and most recently Sydney Metro - much of which is still under construction. However, as an adjunct to looking at how Transport for NSW manage rail replacement services, I also looked at one of the older pieces of infrastructure, the Sydney busway, or 'T-Way'.  The T-Way is  mixture of dedicated and segregated lanes running between two large urban centres in western Sydney, Liverpool and Paramatta.  

What I found was a quite unloved system....

• Whilst segregated/separate lanes remain in place, they are quite overgrown with weeds
• The stops were run down, missing up to date information or vandalised
• The main route, the T80, was not operating with a dedicated bus fleet, as you might expect (and suspect was contracted) but rather any single deck bus from the Transit Systems fleet

Ticketing was quite conventional - Sydney has a touch-in/touch-out system for smart card users which I quite liked, even if on-bus ticketing and particularly fumbling to find a card to touch-off negates some journey time benefit of the segregated system.  The principle is the same as systems used by Go-Ahead in the UK. However with a couple of breaks of journey on the T80 what I saw was a notable amount of ticketless/fraudulent travel where passengers 'barged' on to board at the centre door.

Without knowing where to find the data to support this supposition, I suspect some of the areas served by the T-Way and T80 bus are not particularly economically prosperous.  Those customers often find it difficult to get the ear of politicians and transport authorities, so it feels a little like the T-Way has been left to fend for itself with little support from the centre, whilst politicians and leaders focus on the high profile new railways.  My brief visit to Newcastle NSW (with the same transport authority, Transport for New South Wales) the same week also showed a very notable degree of ticketless travel on the Newcastle tram line. 

Newcastle tram.